Chapter XIX

1. O that I could sing Thee a song of delight, Thou All Highest. Or find the words to make plain Thy marvelous ways. But Thou has limited me as a shadow, of which Thou art the substance. Thy causes are deep and of long times; my judgment less than a breath of air; I resolve and reason and devise, but all is nothing before Thee.

2. To-day my soul is buoyed up with great rejoicing; Thou hast sent me my loves. I would bind them with sweet words; their wisdom would I feast upon forever. In Thy great mercy, Jehovih, Thou hast showed me a world of delight.

3. How can I repay Thee, or Thy countless millions make to understand the way of rejoicing. O that I could show them the secret way of bliss; or turn them in the direction of the All Highest! Could they be the Within; to know the dlight of that which proceedeth outward.

4. O that I could make them understand; to look upward instead of downward; to look inward instead of onward. How Thou followest up Thy wayward children; Thy truants that strive to go away from Thee.

5. They wander away off, and Thou givest the slack of the leading line unto them. They go as if around a circle, and come to the place of beginning at last. O that I could prevail upon them in the start; that I could save them the first journey of the circle. O that they would go slowly and with Thee alway, Jehovih!

6. But Thou enrichest them with Thy bounteous fields; they travel far and are foot-sore and weary; and the twain causes are as a new book of songs. O, that experience may never die! And Thy creations never cease to have adventurous Sons and Daughters!

7. O, that I could understand Thy Greatness, or find the darkness that glorifieth the light of Thy countenance. I drink deep of mine own folly, and mine eyes wander about because of the darkness. I come upon Thy pathway and burst forth with a song of delight. Yea, I rejoice for the darkness I have passed through; in this am I more buoyant in my love to Thee, my Creator.

8. How can I make all Thy people to sing songs unto Thee; or teach them to harp not forever on the dark side of things? I have seen the tree of hell they planted in their own souls, and the way they cultivate it. They know not what is meant by singing praises unto Thee, and of Thy growth in them.

9. Why will they interpret me by words, or realize not that I sing of the exuberance of the soul? O that I could inspire them to talk good of all things; to harp forever on the beauties Thou hast made, instead of the ills and horrors around about. Can they never understand what it is to sow the seed of the tree of endless delight?

10. O that I could call them unto Thee, Jehovih! Or that I could lift their aspiration up from the shadows of death. I would follow them into Thy two great gardens which Thou hast created; that which is green, where they go and curse Thee; and that which is ripe, where I have found p. 506a Thee full of love. Because I said: Sing unto Him forever; pray to Him with great rejoicing, they interpret me to mean words uttered as a mocking-bird. Yea, they grumble forever.

11. To find Thee, O Jehovih; to glorify the good that cometh along, this is the salvation of the world. Of this my songs shall never end; without a shadow of darkness Thou wilt tune my voice forever. I will sing and dance before Thee; the germ of happiness in my soul will I nurse as Thy holiest gift. For of all the trees which Thou hast planted in the soul of men and angels, this is the most glorious; for it is the perfection of Thy Voice, which singeth in all Thy living creatures.

12. When Ahura ended his song, then spake Lika, for the Voice of Jehovih was upon him. He said: Many leaders have I created for the earth and her heavens; but not one have I created with power to make a leader of himself. My hand is upon them that I choose; with wisdom and power raise I them up from the beginning.

13. To a people on the earth I give a king; to the inhabitants of My heavens give I Lords and Gods.

14. Because ye have tried the fullness of self, and raised up mighty realms in heaven, but to come to naught before My hand, ye are as a new power in these heavens.

15. As by the name Jehovih, I have maintained the Faithists in earth and heaven, so shall ye rule over My enemies, in righteousness and love and good works, by the names Lord and God, which they shall worship until the coming of the next dawn. But I will come in that day and deliver you and them, and there shall be no more Lord or God upon the earth or in the heavens thereof.

16. Grieve not that ye have had great kingdoms, and been overthrown and cast into torments; for ye have been so prepared in My works, that I might reach them that are not of the flesh and blood of My Faithists. And inasmuch as ye have gone to the farthest limit of glory and of the darkness of hell, so will I give unto you wisdom, love and power accordingly.

17. For, to make ready for the kosmon era, I want not a few, but thousands of millions in heaven and earth, to inspire such as live in darkness.

18. As I delivered you, so shall ye deliver them; because they will accurse themselves with war and with standing armies for the sake of earthly glory unto their rulers, ye shall encompass them about, and break them p. 507a up, and deliver them into My kingdoms, which are peace and love.

19. As ye have been delivered out of hell, so shall ye deliver the kings and queens of the earth out of their kingdoms wherein they will unknowingly bind themselves in condemnation before Me. They shall be made to understand that, whoso assumeth a kingdom, shall not rule it unto his own glory without reaping the fruits of hell.

20. When the king goeth forth, he shall not be afraid he will be cut down; nor shall his marshals stand about him to protect him, for My Person shall shield him, and his people will shout with great joy when his steps draw nigh. To serve Me is not in prayer only, or in rites and ceremonies, but in stretching forth the hand to do good unto others with all of one's might.

21. Because ye have proved that force and violence only establish for a day, and is not of Me, so shall ye make them understand that whoso useth force and violence or armies to sustain himself is not of Me, but is My enemy, and is on the way to destruction.

22. Whoso being a king, or a general, or a captain, and in war, either offensive or defensive, professing to serve Me by rites and ceremonies and praises, is a mocker of Me and My kingdoms; yea, a blasphemer in My sight; he provideth the way of his own torments. These are My creations; to answer force with force, violence with violence, mockery with mockery; alike and like as seed is sown, so shall the harvest come unto the sowers.

23. Neither shall evil and darkness and misery cease on the earth till I have disbanded the dealers in death; by My own hand will I liberate the nations of the earth; their armies shall go away, like the winter's snow in sun of summer. To which end ye shall be My workers, with wisdom and love and power.